An Oregon jury on Jan. 23 ordered utility company PacifiCorp to pay out at least $62 million to nine homeowners affected by the 2020 wildfires in the state.
The payment ordered by jurors in Portland, where PacifiCorp is based, included nearly $6.3 million in total compensation for the property damage and other economic losses the homeowners suffered.
It also included $56 million for emotional distress, pain, and suffering following a trial that started on Jan. 9 in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Tuesday’s verdict by jurors in Portland was the result of the first of three mini-trials scheduled to take place this year that are designed to serve as test cases to determine how much PacifiCorp owes Oregon residents whose homes were ravaged by a series of fires over Labor Day weekend in 2020.
PacifiCorp Appeals Rulings
PacifiCorp is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway.The fires burned through about 1,900 square miles (1.22 million acres) of land and destroyed an estimated 5,000 or more buildings. Nine people were also killed.
PacifCorp has appealed the ruling and defended its fire prevention efforts, claiming that shutting down the power would have been a last resort and was not necessary based on the information it had.
It has also argued that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit had failed to establish that its equipment was to blame for the fires
‘Wildfires Were Undeniably Tragic’
“The 2020 wildfires were undeniably tragic,” PacifiCorp said in a statement to ABC News following Tuesday’s ruling. "PacifiCorp has settled and will continue to settle all reasonable claims for actual damages under Oregon law...The growing threat of wildfires to communities and businesses is bigger than any one company or industry.”Matthew Preusch, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, called Tuesday’s verdict an “important step” toward recouping as much compensation as possible for victims of the wildfires.
Elsewhere, Cody Berne, lead trial attorney for Stoll Berne, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers in the case, said the trial was “about these brave people.”
“It was also about a corporation and its owners at Berkshire Hathaway who refuse to take any accountability. We thank the jury for holding PacifiCorp accountable,” Mr. Berne told Axios.
In a statement following that settlement, PacifiCorp said the “safety of our employees, customers, and communities remains our top priority.”
The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for PacifiCorp for further comment.
